It began with a group of ambitious professionals in the European Foundation for Landscape Architecture (EFLA, today IFLA Europe).Their desire was for landscape architecture to be recognised as an autonomous profession apart from other disciplines – with its own view of the world, its own methodology, its own concepts and expertise – that possesses a distinctively European culture. This aspiration was given shape by a group of kindred spirits, surrounding the Dutch landscape architect Michael van Gessel, who wished to broadcast this message to the world by publishing a book every three years. They took inspiration from the Yearbook for Landscape Architecture and Town Planning in the Netherlands which publishes outstanding projects selected by an independent committee of practitioners.  

To realize the European book, the Landscape Architecture Europe Foundation (LAE) was created around a pan-European board of representatives: Meto Vroom (NL, president), Joseph de Gryse (BE), Robert Holden (GB), Annalisa Maniglio Calcagno (IT) and Bet Figueras Ponsa (ES). 

The foundation’s first book, Fieldwork, was published in February 2006. Following an open call for entries, the projects featured in the book were selected by an independent jury of practising landscape architects of different European nationalities. The book was then written by a team of European experts. This process has been repeated four times thus far, resulting in the publication of On Site (2009), In Touch (2012), On The Move (2015) and LAE #5 (2018). LAE’s call was open for entries for the sixth edition, planned for 2021. All books are supported financially by IFLA Europe - European Region of International Federation of Landscape Architects as an increasingly representative showcase for the European profession. 

LAE’s books have been distributed by national and international publishers operating in the fields of architecture, landscape architecture and the design disciplines.